This invention generally relates to an electric shaver and, more particularly, to a washable electric shaver which can be used selectively either as a wet type or a dry type.
A washable electric shaver is a recent development in the art and generally comprises, as is the case with the dry type, a shaving head including a stationary shear plate, having a multiplicity of small perforations defined therein, and a power-driven or movable shear element movable relative to and cooperable with the stationary shear plate to cut hairs of a beard and/or a mustache projecting towards the movable shear element through the perforations in the stationary shear plate. In general, of the various features, the employment of a water-tight structure as a housing for the electric circuitry including a motor, a battery source and a switch and rust-resistant material for at least the component parts of the shaving head, may be considered distinguishing the wet type shaver from the dry type, although the wet shaver can also be used as a dry shaver if desired.
The washable electric shaver is considered very convenient in that the clippings of hairs accumulated inside the shaving head can readily be washed off into the drain. This is in contrast to the dry type which, unlike the wet type, cannot be used as a wet type and which requires an occasional or regular cleaning of the shaving head with the aid of a separate brush to remove the clippings.
Also, the wet type has an additional advantage. While it has often been observed with the dry type that some of the hair clippings, once wetted by a fatty secretion from sweat glands in the human face, are incrusted to the cutting edge or edges of the movable shear element so stubbornly as to require a relative strong brushing for the removal thereof, the wet shaver is substantially free from such an inconvenience when used with a soap or a shaving foam applied to the hairs to be shaved. Specifically, when the wet shaver is used with a soap or a shaving foam applied to the hairs to be cut, the secretion from the sweat glands can be neutralized by the soap or the shaving foam and, therefore, some of the wetted hair clippings gathered around the cutting edge or edges of the movable shear element can readily be removed therefrom when the shaving head is flushed with water or washed in a pool of water in a manner similar to the old-fashioned razor.
However, the prior art washable electric shaver is still unsatisfactory in that difficulty is encountered in the achievement of a substantially complete cleaning of the shaving head with water and/or in that, even though the hair clippings inside the shaving head can be substantially completely removed, a complicated and time-consuming handling is required.
To keep a razor sharp so that smooth and comfortable shaving can be appreciated throughout the shaving procedure, it is often desirable to wash the razor with water in a manner to remove the hair clippings with each one or two draws of the razor. This way of using the razor is equally applicable to the washable electric shaver for the same purpose, however the prior art washable electric shaver has a further disadvantage in that water used to flush the shaving head and/or droplets of water remaining in the shaving head after the washing tend to flow downwards to wet the body of the shaver held by the hand of the user. Once the body of the shaver is wetted, holding of the shaver may be hampered because slippage is likely to occur between the hand and the body of the shaver.
Apart from the discussion of the prior art washable electric shavers, the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-9388, published May 2, 1970, discloses the shaving head for an electric shaver which is provided with a pair of simultaneously pivotable lateral lids for selectively opening and closing respective lateral openings leading into the interior of the shaving head. The shaving head disclosed therein comprises a generally elongated movable shear element having a plurality of juxtaposed blades and adapted to be linearly vibrated in a direction longitudinally thereof, and a stationary shear plate having a multiplicity of small perforations defined therein and supported so as to overlay the movable shear element for sliding engagement therewith with the lateral openings defined adjacent to and confronting the opposite ends of the movable shear element. For the selective opening and closing of the lateral openings, a manipulating mechanism is provided, which comprises a knob supported on the casing for the shaver for movement between opened and closed positions and a leaf spring having its opposite ends pivotally connected to the lateral lids, an intermediate portion of the leaf spring being trapped by or secured to the knob. The leaf spring employed therein has a length substantially greater than the linear distance or span between the respective points of pivot of the lateral lids so that a snap acting mechanism of the leaf spring can be utilized to cause the lateral lids to pivot between two different positions to open and close the lateral openings depending on the direction in which the knob is moved.
The publication now under discussion merely says that, when and so long as the knob is in the opened position with the lateral lids opening the lateral openings, the interior of the shaving head can receive a brush inserted therein through either of these lateral openings for the removal of the hair clippings, but is silent as to the capability of the electric shaver being washed with water.